Get Naked
Mark Rosenberg
33; sculptural artist and president of PeterMade (petermade.com); Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
“Each day that goes by, I care less and less what other people think about me and more about who I want to be and how I want to live my life. My sculpture, Peter, is a modern-day fertility idol, and I wanted to surround myself with tons of male energy—almost like one really erotic, sensual orgy of men. I’m a huge exhibitionist and have a wicked sexual streak. I go to underwear parties, and my husband of four years was a ‘sextra’ in Shortbus. So posing naked for Time Out isn’t really a stretch.”
“I swear my mom voted for me, like, 100 times a day. She got her sisters involved and everything—the whole family pushed me over the edge. That’s so like my mom, though. When I was in junior high, we had this canned-food drive and the winning class got a prize. She said, ‘Do you want to win this thing?’ I said, ‘Yeah,’ and she goes, ‘Okay then,’ and drives us to the supermarket, where she proceeds to buy 500 cans of food to donate. She’ll do anything for her children.”
von Hottie
a.k.a. Laura von Holt, 29; writer, performer and pinup (vonhottie.com); Soho
“I recruited a bunch of friends for the shoot at Madame X—I call them my ‘vontourage.’ What can I say? I know a lot of unemployed people. I did have one diva moment [during the shoot]: I was trying to get 15 pounds of pearl necklaces on me and screamed, ‘I need an assistant!’ Nine people rushed over, and it’s suddenly like a miniature pearl-necklace sweatshop. [Laughs] I apologized for being a diva, and the day after, I counted ten empty bottles of prosecco in my apartment. As I always say, ‘My life is a party, and you’re invited!’”
“As my alter ego, von Hottie, I take pinup pictures of myself against the streets and sights of New York City and elsewhere. I was almost arrested in front of the New York Life Building, and got kicked out of the Louvre once. My ultimate fantasy would be to shoot on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. I’ve met lots of traders who promise me at 3am that they think it’s a great idea but then won’t return my calls the next day.”
ARE YOU NEXT? Want to get naked in a future issue of TONY? E-mail naked@timeoutny.com and tell us why you should bare all.
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This Playground Monitor is blowing the whistle. Thank you for the healthy debate. Keith & Kat & Sassw, Thank you kindly. Gwin, The "von" is indeed legit. Greetings, from one long lost aristocrat to another. Let's go hunt down some other royalty and propagate our bloodlines. If any of you would like to find out what all this von Hottie business is about, please come to my calendar launch party. Details here: http://www.pingg.com/rsvp/kcz578ey5ca24sz8w Love, von Hottie
both look like fun people. von seems totally kickass. she looks like madonna in the middle of versailles- so much glam. I went to the website and her new calender seems to be coming out soon. i want to get one for my friends as xmas gifts.
Why enter and win a contest to appear naked, and then NOT do it? Good job Von.
Gwin- you are worse than a pot calling the kettle black. Your response is by far the more "playground-worthy." Your lame excuses for being superficial and mean are misinformed and seem "a bit sad." That wonderful woman is probably the funniest person I have ever met and a beautiful woman who I am proud to call a friend. She has a joyous personality that makes everyone she knows feel happy and that is only part of what makes her such a hottie.
the hell I am, but thanks for your playground-worthy response.
The "von" is legit, it's part of her real last name, von Holt. And you're just jealous.
Mark is totally hot... "von" Hottie? totally not. How fucking pretentious is it to add a "von" to your name? As someone with a legit "von" in my name, I find it completely pointless, and just a little bit sad.